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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Things You Should Know Before You Purchase Your First Kitten

Maybe you love cats. You have always liked them, and enjoy their company when at your family or friends home. However, you have never had one as a pet. Your family, when you were growing up, never had a cat, so you really don't know much about cat ownership. Now, years later, you want to have a cat as a pet. Well, there are a few things you will need to know before you take the plunge to become a cat owner.

Do you want a kitten or an adult cat?
It is often more satisfying to buy a kitten and raise the feline from the beginning. You will likely have a stronger bond than anything you could hope to achieve with a full grown cat. There things about a kitten that you will need to understand.

You need to make a place for your kitten
You need to have a place where your kitten can sleep that he or she will know is theirs. The kitten will need something soft to sleep on. You don't have to invest a lot of money in this. In fact, if you want, you can look through your closets for an old blanket. This will work fine. The space where the kitten sleeps should be safe and away from any possibility of being stepped on. This doesn't mean it needs to be in an elevated area, but make sure that it is in a place where no one walks. For example, corners of a bedroom are a good idea, or a perhaps an area in a closet, but in this case, the cat must be able to access it anytime he or she wants to.

Make your home safe for your cat
In addition to a safe place to sleep and nap, you will need to make sure your home is safe for your cat. This is not dissimilar to what you what do for a child. Take a look at every place in your home, and look to see if there is anything dangerous that you need to protect your cat from. You may need to attach safety mechanisms for your cabinets at ground level. The same way you would for a child. In fact, you can purchase a child safety kit, and use some of the locks from the kit.

You will need food
You should start with a dish for your cat to eat from, along with a water bowl. You may be able to use something you already have, and dedicate this bowl for a permanent food or water dish. The food you will have to experiment with, but start with commercial food that is formulated for a kitten. As your kitten grows, you can experiment with various types of food. Some cats like wet food, but they also appreciate a little dry food that is always available between meals. Don't be alarmed if your cat is a picky eater. This is common.

You will need a litter box
You will need a litter box as well as some cat litter to fill it. You may be thinking about letting your cat use the outdoors instead of a litter box, but today's cat litter has very good odor protection. You only need to clean the litter box every day, and add a little fresh cat litter now and then. Using a litter box doesn't mean that you will always have your cat indoors, but you should give strong consideration to making your cat primarily an indoor cat. They live longer inside. You can always take your at outdoors, and if needed, they have cat leashes you can use. Outdoor cats roam freely, but they do not live as long and often meet a tragic end. Your indoor cat will want to look outside, even if they don't go outdoors every day, so make sure there is at least one window they can look out of.